20-Minute Book Marketing Podcasts: Author Success Stories

During the month of April I am hosting the 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast series on my Ask John Kremer blog. You can check out the podcasts as they are uploaded by clicking on the various links below:

April 1st - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: David Koop on Personal Selling - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-david-koop-on-personal-selling

April 2nd - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Anne Saunders on Travel Books - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-anne-saunders-on-travel-books

April 3rd - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Claudia Brownlie on Selling Kindle Ebooks - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-claudia-brownlie-on-selling-kindle-ebooks

April 4th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Marc Pitman on Using Twitter to Sell Factory Seconds - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-marc-pitman-on-using-twitter-to-sell-factory-seconds

April 5th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Erno Rossi on Back Cover Copy That Sells - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-erno-rossi-on-back-cover-copy-that-sells

April 6th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Danny Iny on Blogging to Sell More Books - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-danny-iny-on-blogging-to-sell-more-books

April 7th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Gary Goldstein on Social Media Promotion - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-gary-goldstein-on-social-media-promotion

April 8th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Tom T. Moore on Author Book Promotions - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-tom-t-moore-on-author-book-promotions

April 9th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Judy Belmont on Mommy Blogger Book Reviews - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-judy-belmont-on-mommy-blogger-book-reviews

April 10th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Paula Langguth Ryan on Selling Multiple Copies to Professionals - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-paula-langguth-ryan-on-selling-multiple-copies-to-professionals

April 11th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Cy Tymony on Getting Local Publicity - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-cy-tymony-on-getting-local-publicity

April 12th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Doug Bolton on Finding New Markets for Your Books - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-doug-bolton-on-finding-new-markets-for-your-books

April 13th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Jeffrey Marks on Selling Genre Novels - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-jeffrey-marks-on-selling-genre-novels

April 14th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Pierette Simpson on Local and National Book Launches - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-pierette-simpson-on-local-and-national-book-launches

April 15th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Michael Loyd Gray on Having a Great Agent - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-michael-loyd-gray-on-having-a-great-agent

April 16th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Judith Briles on Why Authors Fail - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-judith-briles-on-why-authors-fail

April 17th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Duke Lunsford on Motivational Seminars and PR - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-duke-lunsford-on-motivational-seminars-and-pr

April 18th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Dianne de Las Casas on Creating a Movement - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-dianne-de-las-casas-on-creating-a-movement

April 19th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Gerald Kolpan on Videos and PR - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-gerald-kolpan-on-videos-and-pr

April 20th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Catherine Lanigan on Author Promotions - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-catherine-lanigan-on-author-promotions

April 21st - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Stephen Schochet on Radio Interviews and Publicity - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-stephen-schochet-on-radio-interviews-and-publicity

April 22nd - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Anthea Carson on Book Signings and Book Events - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-anthea-carson-on-book-signings-and-book-events

April 23rd -20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Lissy Peace on Selling Movie Rights - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-lissy-peace-on-selling-movie-rights

April 24th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Mike McCann on Ebook Marketing - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-mike-mccann-on-ebook-marketing

April 25th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Anne Miller on the Power of Metaphors - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-anne-miller-on-the-power-of-metaphors

April 26th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Kathleen Rehl on Honeycomb Marketing - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-kathleen-rehl-on-honeycomb-marketing

April 27th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Jim Misko on Selling Books Via Costco - http://askjohnkremer.com/20-minute-book-marketing-podcast-jim-misko-on-selling-books-via-costco

April 28th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Kid Chef Eliana on Marketing Cookbooks - http://askjohnkremer.com/kid-chef-eliana-on-marketing-cookbooks

April 29th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Jane Lassar on Great Radio Interviews - http://askjohnkremer.com/jane-lassar-on-great-radio-interviews

April 30th - 20-Minute Book Marketing Podcast: Joan Stewart on Selling Books on Goodreads - http://askjohnkremer.com/joan-stewart-on-selling-books-on-goodreads



John Kremer is the author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books as well as the developer of the following programs:

Book Marketing Magic: http://www.bookmarket.com/novelmarketing.htm - How to market novels, children's books, memoirs, and more. $48 special offer

15,000 Eyeballs Internet Marketing Program: http://www.bookmarket.com/15000eyeballs.htm - Ten lessons on how to get thousands of impressions for you, your book, your blog, or your website. $50

Real Fast Book Marketing: http://www.bookmarket.com/realfastbookmarketing.htm - How to sell 100 to 200 copies of any book in two weeks or less. $97

Blog Tour Palooza: http://www.bookmarket.com/blog-tour-palooza.htm - How to carry out a blog tour or virtual book tour that gets millions of impressions, builds your brand, and sells thousands of books. $297

Book Author Success Story: Giving Away Free Books

A Marketing Activity that Worked Wonders for My Book Sales: Giving Away Free Books

I have given away a number of copies of my book, Come Back Early Today. This has had three direct beneficial results.

1. Several friends of people I gave books to purchased copies for themselves. For example, I gave a copy of my book to my vet and five of her staff members immediately ordered copies.

2. Some people who got free books subsequently bought copies to give to their friends.

3. Many people who got free books subsequently wrote reviews on Amazon, and I’m confident others will, too, as soon as they finish reading the book.

None of these things would have happened had I not given away the books in the first place.



- Marie Marley, PhD., author of Come Back Early Today: A Memoir of Love, Alzheimer’s and Joy – A passionate love story of a young American woman and a delightfully eccentric Romanian gentleman interspersed with an inspirational guide for Alzheimer’s caregivers everywhere.

For more about the book, see http://www.ComeBackEarlyToday.com.

Note: The value of reviews is not only seen on Amazon, but also on GoodReads, Shelfari, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and other social networks. People who like you or your book will tell others.

Author Success Story: The Wonderful World of Book Marketing

Here is a success story from one of the members of The Book Marketing Network:

After some time listening and trying ideas over and over, I am at last making headway.

E-books have been my greatest success, where I have maintained between 3,000 to 5,000 in Kindle ratings. And in Magic&Wizards on Amazon, I stay between 30 to 60. In Kindle epic books I remain in the top 100. So I am a happy camper.

I am selling between 20 to 30 books a day and have 53 book reviews.

My web page allows readers to ask questions and even give ideas on how they would like to see the storyline go.

My second book Dustin Anfeald - Return to Stormvale will be out the day after Thanksgiving.

My book has been chosen by Amazon for a new trial in which my book is 100% returnable!

Writing is FUN. Getting published--HARD. Marketing well..... errrrrrr NEAR impossible lol

Keep up, my fellow authors. Times are hard but your work will reward you as long as you put in some hard effort.

- Michael D. Waterhouse

Author Success Story: Blogging on the Huffington Post

Here's another author success story, with Marilyn Wedge talking about getting her article accepted for The Huffington Post:

One thing that worked for me was to buy John Kremer's "15,000 Eyeballs Program" and follow the directions. Here’s why. I never would have thought of becoming a blogger for The Huffington Post.

I admire the Huffington Post and read it often, but to be a blogger simply did not cross my mind. Yet there it was, right in John's program, “Lesson 2: Write a blog for the Huffington Post."

I was so interested in this, that I skipped Lesson 1. What have I got to lose? I asked myself. He makes it sound so simple. So I followed John’s directions and wrote the best article I could muster. And it was accepted. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

My book, Suffer the Children: The Case Against Labeling and Medicating and an Effective Alternative, was published two weeks ago. I cannot say for certain that blogging has drawn attention to the book, but I imagine it hasn’t hurt either.

I am a family therapist with twenty years of experience helping children and teens. I wrote this book to offer parents an alternative to medicating their children. The book is easy for parents to read and offers safe, effective solutions for a wide spectrum of childhood woes such as school problems, behavior problems, depression, and anxiety.

- To read more about Marilyn Wedge's book and see the latest reviews, visit the Suffer the Children website at http://www.Sufferthechildren.net.

Quick Update: Marilyn posted a second article on The Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marilyn-wedge-phd/a-tale-of-two-bullies-the_b_848754.html - and within 3 days the post had 48 Facebook likes and 96 tweets from just that post.

Author Success Story: Facebook Gets Attention for an Upcoming Novel

For me, the trickiest thing about being a writer is being a writer. I am a cellist – or was – until a rare neurological disorder ended my career. The shadow my illness cast was long, and my confidence in trying something new was short.

Fast forward. 

Two years have passed and I’ve met life’s challenges head on. My first novel, Abyss of Chaos, is a fun action/adventure supernatural thriller with mercurial wit. The story begins with cellist Maxwell Sinclair, and his aging archeologist godfather, Dr. Phineas Monroe vacationing in Aksum, Ethiopia. When caught in the crossfire of a terrorist attack on the Old Treasury Building (the supposed resting place of the Ark of the Covenant), the route to safety leads inside. There, the Guardian of the Ark of the Covenant presents Max and Phineas with a prophecy from the Book of the Glory of Kings connecting them to the Ark. Now, it’s a race against time and the forces of evil, which threaten no less than the very fabric of reality.

Fun stuff, except the “very fabric of reality” threatens to “very bury” my book’s visibility on the great plains of promotion. Enter Facebook, something I’d previously always resisted. After all, Facebook never helped me play more in tune. Nevertheless, I took a chance with the “add,” “friend,” and “like” buttons.

I’m glad I did.

Using a simple mass email to a thousand Facebook contacts landed my author page launch (http://davidbeem.wordpress.com) on Wordpress’ fastest growing blogs, proving it’s never too early to begin promoting your work. I was adding FB friends even while creating the first draft of Abyss – friends who are now my base readership as I take my first steps into a new and exciting industry. Better, if a newbie like me can do it – so can you!

- David Beem is the author of the forthcoming novel, Abyss of Chaos (to be released in September). For more information, check out his website: http://davidbeem.wordpress.com.

John's Comments: Finally a Facebook success story I can believe in - and act upon!

Author Success Story: Initiating Online Conversations

Stephen Gallup, author of What About the Boy?, describes his initial foray into building an online presence:

I am attempting to initiate online conversations on topics related to my memoir, What About the Boy? A Father’s Pledge to His Disabled Son. To do this, I have begun writing short blog entries and posting them to my website, www.fatherspledge.com. Upon posting them, I then announce their existence on my Facebook page and on Twitter.

My book tells the story of how my family responded when our baby failed to achieve any of the usual developmental milestones and, even worse, was clearly in great distress—and when doctors had no recommendations other than psychological counseling for his mother and me. We argued that he was the one in need of help, and we took responsibility for continuing the search until we knew what to do.

My first serious blog entry concerned the rationale for trying to change a child. There are some who debate this issue, saying that “neurological diversity” is a good thing and that it does violence to a child to alter his natural state. Although I disagree, it may be possible for the two sides in this issue to find common ground. I welcomed feedback from all quarters.

The next week, I wrote about gatekeepers, who I describe as being individuals in a position to control our access to what we need. My family found gatekeepers to be an impediment and a worthless part of the equation. We got around them. My blog entry observes that, in the years since our son was little, the role of gatekeepers in many areas of life has become ever more tenuous.

My book is still in production. More specifically, the designer is making final tweaks to the interior layout, after which it will be going to print. Since it is not yet on the market, I cannot claim that this blogging has resulted in sales. However, the objective is to create buzz and present the title to the reading public, in hopes that they will look for it later. Email and Facebook responses are encouraging.

- Stephen Gallup, author of What About the Boy? A Father’s Pledge to His Disabled Son - http://www.fatherspledge.com

Author Success Story: Get a Charity Involved with Your Book Event

When I chose the date for my book release party, the first thing I did was ally with a charity that had something to do with kids. Even though I was not a major entity, it’s amazing how relatively easy it is to get a respected and viable organization (in my case, it was an adolescent obesity program at a prominent children’s hospital) to work with you when you are promising them some money and exposure.

I promised them that I would donate $5 for every book sold during a particular month. I invited friends, customers, family, and the Chamber of Commerce. I did an email blast through the town’s listserve, a press release to the local paper, posted about it on Facebook, and sent email to my current and past fitness clients and prospects. Because of the tie-in with the hospital and the kids, it was easy to get people to be open to come to the event. I even got a local television station to cover the story.

I sold 120 books in a few hours.

- Glenn Marcella, author of Duh, The Workout: Get in the Best Shape of Your Life by Acting Like a Child (http://www.duhtheworkout.com).

John's Comment: I love the title of his book. I'm ready to exercise. He also has a sub-subtitle to his book: The 50 Most Incredible and Ridiculous Exercises You Must Start Doing ... Again. The exercises in his book include The Temper Tantrum, Tag, Sticky Hands, and The Pillow Fight.